


Snowballs Hurt, But Snow Angels Can Make It All Better

by tfw_cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: All The Snow, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Snow, Snow Angels, Snowball Fight, Snowmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 09:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17139023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfw_cas/pseuds/tfw_cas
Summary: All Dean Winchester wants is a traditional family Christmas; that's not too much to ask, is it? But when things don't work out how he had hoped, he can count on his family, and some snow, to lift his spirits. Maybe Christmas won't be too bad after all.





	Snowballs Hurt, But Snow Angels Can Make It All Better

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this sweet [prompt](https://dmsilvisart.tumblr.com/post/181222375203/free-prompt-please-give-this-plot-bunny-a-home) on tumblr from the lovely [Dmsilvis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmsilvis), and I felt a burning need to write it. Happy Christmas, and I hope you like what I did with it.
> 
> Thanks to my lovely friend [PassionPhantom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PassionPhantom) for looking this over and being so sweet about it.

This latest hunt had been a nasty one; it had dragged on much longer than anyone had expected and by the end of it Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack had all been hurt. Not seriously, but it had been unpleasant, nonetheless. Plus, it had meant they had been away from the bunker for two weeks instead of two days. 

 

“Dammit!” Dean slammed the motel door open in frustration. “This hunt took so long we’re not gonna make it back to the bunker in time for Christmas. At least, we wouldn’t get there until the afternoon.”

 

It was true, even if they left right now and drove without stopping there was no way they could get back in time to enjoy any festivities.

 

“Well, at least we freed the town from those ghouls, Dean. Christmas will be happier for everyone because of us.” Trust Sam to always look on the bright side, but Dean had been looking forward to having some kind of normal Christmas at the bunker, with his family alive and well, and he needed to sulk about it. Also, he needed whiskey.

 

“I’m gonna go to the store,” he announced, sullenly. “Anyone want anything?”

 

“A Christmas tree,” Jack said hopefully.

 

“Decorations,” Sam added.

 

“Yeah, you’re hilarious,” Dean grumbled. “I meant food or drink.”

 

“We could get pizza. Then you won’t need to go to the store,” suggested Sam. 

 

“You get pizza, I need whiskey.” Dean started for the door, pulling it open before Sam could stop him.

 

“Dean, wait-” Sam called after him, but Dean was determined, and stomped outside into the cold wintry air. 

 

Before he could close the door behind him, Cas was there, by his side. He didn’t say a word, just followed him silently, to the car. 

 

“You don’t need to watch over me Cas. I’m not gonna do anything stupid.”

 

“You might need driving back here after getting “wasted.” Cas did the air quotes, and Dean couldn’t help softening at the gesture.

 

“Okay, just… don’t cramp my style, okay?”

 

Cas nodded as he got into the passenger side of the Impala. Dean drove to the nearest store, where he purchased a couple of bottles of whiskey and brought them back to the car. Cas watched him, then stared out of the window as he climbed back in and cracked open the bottle. 

 

“I just wanted a proper, family Christmas, you know?” Dean broke the silence before taking a long drink. It burned as it went down, but he didn’t care.

 

“I understand your frustration, Dean. It would have been nice, the four of us celebrating together. But I have to agree with Sam; we did a good thing, and we all survived, which helps.” Cas smiled ruefully, and Dean didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he was extremely grateful for the angel’s presence. It would probably stop him from doing anything stupid.

 

Dean took another long swig, then offered the bottle to Cas, who surprised him by accepting it and taking a mouthful.

 

“Woah! You won’t be able to drive either,” Dean laughed.

 

“It will not affect me. I just wanted to taste it,” Cas said stoically.

 

“Yeah,” Dean sighed. He would have really liked to have gotten shitfaced with Cas, but that was just another in a long list of things he wouldn’t get to do with the angel.

 

Dean lifted the bottle to his lips again, and drank, immediately feeling the effect. His eyes showed him two of Cas, both of whom were frowning at him. Seconds later he fell forward onto the steering wheel, barely aware of a hand protecting him from injury before passing out cold.

 

Dean awoke to the sound of quiet voices, and a surprisingly mild hangover. He was expecting to feel like he'd been kicked in the head, but no… it was just a vague fuzziness. Dean sat up in bed.  _ Bed… how did he get here _ ?  _ And who removed his pants _ ?

 

Dean sat up in bed, and looked over at Sam, Cas, and Jack, sitting at the small motel table. “Hey, what's going on?”

 

“Hello, Dean.” Cas's trademark greeting made Dean smile, and he climbed out of bed to move closer to him… them.

 

“I'm sorry for being an assbutt last night. You guys didn't deserve the shit I gave you.”

 

“It's okay Dean, we understand.” Sam stood up, walked around the table, and hugged him. “Merry Christmas Dean.”

 

_ Shit,  _ he had forgotten _.  _

 

“Merry Christmas bitch,” Dean laughed, and hugged his brother tightly. 

 

Jack looked confused, and was about to question why Dean was calling his beloved brother something unkind, when a look of wonder came over his face. “Look!” He pointed out of the window, and when Dean turned to see, he understood what created that reaction from Jack.

 

It had started snowing sometime in the night, and outside looked like a freaking winter wonderland. Even the Impala had a couple of feet of snow covering it.

 

“Awesome.” Dean tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, but he failed miserably.

 

“Can we go outside and touch it?” Jack asked.

 

“We can do more than that.” Dean clapped Jack on the shoulder. “We’re gonna make a snowman, and I’m gonna show you how to make snowballs.”

 

“Why does the snowman need balls, Dean?” Cas was extremely puzzled. “I wouldn’t have thought that would be very appropriate.”

 

“No Cas, it’s not…” Dean broke out into a full body laugh at Cas’s misunderstanding.

 

Sam joined in with the laughter, and they only stopped when Dean complained that his side was hurting. “Ow, ouch. I think I pulled something.”

 

Cas opened his mouth to speak again, but Dean grabbed him and hugged him before he could say a word. “Oh man, I haven’t laughed like that since… forever. Don’t ever change Cas.”

 

“I will try not to,” Cas replied, as he pulled away with a small smile on his face.

 

Dean clapped his hands together. “Right, snow day it is. Sammy, you coming?”

 

“Of course. But we’re going to need to wrap up first.” Sam put his hand out to stop Dean from opening the door. “Gloves, hats, scarves.” He went over to the bed, picked up his duffel from beside it, and started rummaging through.

 

“Sam, we both survived hell, and Cas and Jack are angels - well, half angel.” Dean gestured toward Jack. “A bit of cold ain’t gonna kill us,” he grumbled.

 

Sam turned back to him with an armful of knitted crap and a bitchface, and rolled his eyes. “Just put ‘em on, Dean. Sometimes you have to be sensible, and set a good example for people who look up to us.”

 

Dean knew that Sam was talking about Jack, and he knew he was right too, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to complain. Grabbing a hat and a thick pair of gloves he muttered “okay mom… jeeze. Why have you even got this stuff anyway?”

 

“It’s winter, and it’s cold, so I came prepared,” Sam explained.

 

Okay, that made sense. Dean pulled the hat on, then looked at Cas, who was carefully watching the proceedings. “Cas needs a hat and gloves too,” Dean said to Sam.

 

“Dean,  I do not requi-” Cas started.

 

“Yeah, you do. You’ve gotta set a good example for the young ‘uns,” he said with a slightly sarcastic tone. The truth was, he wanted to see what Cas would look like, but he wasn’t going to admit it. Sam handed him a hat, and Dean pulled it onto the angel’s head. Well okay, that was just too adorable for words. Dean swallowed thickly and tried to tear his eyes away from Cas’s. 

 

Sam coughed, and Dean turned to face him. “Okay guys, when you’re ready.” There was something in his tone, but Dean ignored it as he went to the door and opened it. A bitterly cold blast of air hit him in the face, and he was suddenly extremely grateful for Sam’s insistence on them wrapping up warmly.

 

The snow was still falling steadily, and as Dean stepped outside he automatically stuck out his tongue to catch some flakes. Jack copied him, and a huge smile lit up his face.

 

“It tingles,” he exclaimed in delight.

 

Dean chuckled at Jack’s boyish enthusiasm. “Just wait till you see what else you can do with it.” He started stomping through the fresh snow, reveling in the crunching sound it made. He might be nearly forty, but happy memories came flooding back, and if he closed his eyes he was that little child again, seeing snow for the first time.

 

When Dean opened his eyes again, he saw that Jack was copying him - again - and Sam was trying to see how far he could reach foot, to make the biggest space in between each footprint. The way he was walking was ridiculous, and Dean pointed and laughed. 

 

Cas seemed pretty bemused by the whole thing, and stood watching, as flakes of snow landed on his hat. 

 

“If you stand too still you’ll turn into a snowman,” Dean called, suddenly getting an idea. 

 

Dean bent down and started to scrape together as much snow as he could, making it into a mound. Sam came over to help, followed by Jack, and very quickly they had a decent sized body for the snowman. 

 

“You gonna help, Cas?” Dean stood back up to get his attention.

 

Cas had snow in his eyelashes, and Dean couldn’t help but take a few moments to admire how pretty the angel looked. Becoming aware that Sam was saying something, Dean stopped staring and turned his attention back to his brother. 

 

“...roll it into a ball, to make the head.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll do that.” Dean moved over to an untouched patch of snow, and did the same thing; scraping together as much as he could. Cas slowly started to help, by bringing handfuls of snow over and sticking it to the rest. At one point they ended up patting it down together, and their hands met in the middle, causing Dean to inwardly curse the stupid gloves he was wearing.

 

When Dean was happy with the size of the head, and he had stopped repeatedly gazing at Cas, they picked it up and carefully placed it on the body, which Sam and Jack had continued to work on. 

 

After the head rolled off a couple of times, and Dean was starting to the joyful feeling he’d had since they stepped outside, Cas suggested putting a stick inside the body, then attaching the head to that. 

 

“Not just a pretty face, huh?” Dean said, then felt himself reddening when he realised what he said. 

 

_ Dammit _ .

 

Before he could see Cas’s reaction, Dean practically ran to try to find some sticks for the arms and stones for eyes. He quickly found what he needed, and when he returned with them, he handed them to Jack, and determinedly avoided making eye contact with Sam or Cas. 

 

“Now all we need is a nose,” Dean broke through the weird tension that seemed to be hanging in the air.

 

“Oh… yeah.” Sam gave Dean a strange look, then disappeared into their room. Jack had finished with the arms and eyes, and was admiring their handiwork.

 

“We made a snowman.” Jack beamed with delight.

 

“No shit, Sherlock.” 

 

“Dean,” Cas admonished. 

 

Just then Sam returned with a carrot in his hand.

 

“Where did you get that?” Dean asked incredulously. “Wait, don’t tell me, you came prepared.”

 

“No, actually, I happen to like carrots.” Sam stuck the carrot in place, then took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a few photos. 

 

Dean was pretty sure Sam was sneakily trying to get him and Cas into a couple of the pictures, so he grabbed Cas, and put his arm around his shoulders. “Say cheese.”

 

Sam snapped a couple more times, then Dean let go of Cas and said “right, time for a snowball fight.”

 

“What is a snowball fight, Dean?” Jack asked earnestly.

 

Oh, this was going to be so much fun. “Ah, let me teach you the ways of the force, young padawan.”

 

“Star Wars?” Jack seemed terribly confused.

 

“It’s just a saying, Jack.”  _ Are all angels this literal _ ? Dean bent down again and scooped up a couple of handfuls of snow, then squashed it all together, packing it as tightly as possible. 

 

Jack watched intently, taking it all in, then when Dean had finished he copied his movements exactly. They held their snowballs up to show each other, then Jack said,

 

“What do we do now?”

 

“We throw them.”

 

“At what?” Jack asked.

 

“At each other,” Sam replied, as he lobbed a snowball at him, catching him in the side of the head.

 

The shocked expression on Jack’s face lingered for a minute or so, until he got his equilibrium back, then it turned mischievous. “Ah, I see.” Jack launched his snowball at Sam, hitting him square in the chest.

 

“You gotta aim better than that,” Dean laughed, before throwing his missile at Cas, who was quite unprepared, despite the fact that the snowball fight was escalating.

 

Dean didn’t throw it very hard, but it did hit Cas on the forehead. Cas stumbled backwards, then a dangerous look Dean hadn’t seen since the early days spread over Cas’s face. Very slowly and deliberately, Cas crouched down and made a snowball of his own, patting the snow together.

 

While Cas was occupied, Sam and Jack were making more missiles. Dean, however, was frozen to the spot, waiting to see what Cas would do. Cas made a row of snowballs, then stood back up with one in his hand. “I believe I understand how this works,” he said, before throwing it hard in Dean’s direction. 

 

Dean tried to dodge out of the way, but it hit him in the ear, and despite the hat, it stung like a son of a bitch. 

 

“Motherf-” Dean dropped to the ground, and made as many snowballs as he could, while being pelted repeatedly by Cas. 

 

Sam came to his brother’s rescue by attacking Cas with a few missiles of his own, at the same time as Jack threw some at Sam. And suddenly, there were two sides in this ‘war’,

 

“Oh, it is on. Winchesters against angels.” Dean jumped up and ran over to Sam, where they quickly joined forces. 

 

Sam surprised Dean by creating a kind of fort out of snow, while Dean made a shitload more snowballs. A few metres away, Cas and Jack appeared to be doing the exact same thing, and then the fight began in earnest.

 

For the next hour or so, the air was full of laughter and flying missiles; some hitting their target, some not. Dean was aching and covered in snow, but it was the best fun he’d had in… well, forever.

“Truce!” Dean called out from behind their fort. 

 

Cas stood up from behind the angel’s fort, looking more dishevelled than Dean had ever seen him. His hat was gone, and his hair was sticking out at crazy angles. Clumps of snow were stuck in his hair and all over his clothes, and his tie had somehow managed to get twisted around and had landed on his shoulder.

 

“Cas, you look worse than I feel,” Dean laughed, as he got to his feet.

 

“I doubt that,” Cas replied, raising his eyebrow in a manner that gave Dean chills.

 

THWACK!!!!!

 

A snowball that felt like pure ice hit Dean on the forehead, making him fall backwards onto his ass.  _ Jack, you sneaky SOB _ .

 

Lying on the ground, dazed, Dean saw a figure hovering over him. The watery sun cast a glow around his head, like a sort of halo. “Angel,” Dean chuckled.

 

“Dean, are you okay?” Cas sounded deeply concerned, as he crouched down next to Dean.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, just having a little lie down.” 

 

By now Sam and Jack were also standing over him, looking down at him worriedly.

 

“Hey, another angel,” Dean said. “Nice shot Jack. The student beat the master.”

 

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Jack said, full of remorse.

 

“Nah, you won, fair and square,” Dean said, trying and failing to sit up. “You know what? I’m gonna stay here and make a snow angel.”

 

“Snow angel?” Cas asked. “Is that like a snowman?”

 

“No, wait. I’ll show you.” Dean moved his legs from side to side and his arms up and down until he was satisfied he had made the perfect snow angel. Then he gingerly sat up and got to his feet, with a helping hand from Sam and Cas.

 

“That is an angel?” Cas looked at it thoughtfully.

 

“Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t look as good as the real thing, obviously. No beautiful blue eyes, or crazy sex hair, or stupid trench coat that doesn’t fit properly, and that tie I just want to grab hold of and... ” Dean suddenly realised that he was saying all this out loud. Damn, that hit on the head must have damaged him more than he realised.

 

Cas and Sam were staring at Dean now, as if he had lost his mind. “What?”

 

Sam turned to Jack and said “let’s go inside and make some hot chocolate. Leave Dean and Cas to, er… make more snow angels.”

 

Before Jack could protest, they were gone, leaving Dean and Cas staring at each other in the snow.

 

“I should heal you.” Cas lifted his hand to Dean’s face, but instead of touching him where he had been hit, he gently cupped Dean’s cheek.

 

“That’s not where-”

 

“I know.” Cas used his other hand to tilt Dean’s head forwards, then placed his lips ever so gently on Dean’s forehead. A warmth spread through him as Cas’s grace healed him, then Cas pulled back and smiled.

 

“You… your lips… I.” Dean might have been healed, but it seemed that he had lost the ability to speak properly.

 

“Yes. Is there anywhere else that needs healing, Dean?”

 

Without a second thought, Dean pointed to his mouth, and Cas leaned in to plant his lips there. They were soft and gentle, and Dean thought he might actually be in heaven, as the two of them got lost in the kiss. He pulled Cas closer to him by placing one gloved hand on his back, while running the other one through the angel’s hair. 

 

Cas moaned, and Dean slipped his tongue into his mouth. Cas pulled them even closer together, if that was even possible, and there they stayed for an immeasurable amount of time. Kissing as if they needed it like they needed air, and pushing their bodies up against each other. Eventually, they had to come up for air - well, Dean did anyway - and he gazed deeply into Cas’s eyes.

 

“Dean, I-” Not being able to form coherent sentences seemed to be catching.

 

“Me too, Cas. Me too.” Dean kissed the tip of Cas’s nose.

 

“Should we go back inside?” Cas kissed Dean’s neck.

 

“Probably.” Dean nibbled on Cas’s ear lobe.

 

“Maybe.” Cas licked up Dean’s neck.

 

“Mmmmm.”

 

So what if they weren’t at the bunker with a tree and decorations, and a turkey, and all the trimmings. They had just had the most epic snow day ever, and Dean finally had all he ever wanted, right there in his arms.

 

This was turning out to be a very merry Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

> This was the prompt: I need a lovely little winter fic with an epic snow day, snow angels, snowmen, snowball fight, with snow forts, between TFW 2.0 Winchesters vs. Angels and it has to include Dean teaching Jack the fine art of packing the perfect snowball. Only to have his ass handed to him by his protege.


End file.
